Emery: No dispute between PSG and Brazil over injured Neymar

PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil national team officials are on the same page regarding Neymar’s injury, the French club’s coach said Friday.

Neymar, who was signed by PSG for a world record 222 million euros ($260 million) from Barcelona last year, is set to undergo surgery on his injured right foot.

PSG initially said the Brazil forward would not go under the knife, before announcing a day later that he would. The club then let Neymar travel back to his home country.

Neymar’s injury has ruled him out of Tuesday’s Champions League return leg against Real Madrid, with PSG trailing 3-1. But according Brazil’s national team doctor, Rodrigo Lasmar, Neymar’s absence could last up to three months.

Asked Friday whether the club had lost control of Neymar, PSG coach Unai Emery said both sides are working hand-in-hand.

“Internally, we speak with much clarity,” Emery said. “We first listened to our doctor’s diagnosis. Then we’ve heard Brazil’s national team doctor. Since we learned about his injury, we have been seeking the best for both the player and the team in our decision making.”

Neymar was injured Sunday in Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-0 win over Marseille in the French league. After a battery of tests, PSG announced that Neymar had a cracked the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, along with an ankle injury.

That diagnosis was contested by Lasmar, who said it was not a simple fissure, but “a meaningful fracture in a toe in the middle of his foot.”

PSG and Brazil have competing interests in Neymar’s case. If the French league club manages to turn things around against Madrid and reaches the Champions League quarterfinals, it might be tempted to rush Neymar’s return to competition in order to have him available.

Brazil, however, will be concentrating more on the World Cup, which starts on June 14 in Russia. Brazil is scheduled to play its first match against Switzerland on June 17.

After seeing Neymar’s X-rays, Emery repeated that his injury had been well diagnosed by PSG.

“I can’t tell whether there is a fracture or not,” Emery said. “But I clearly saw a crack on the fifth metatarsal. I’ve suffered this type of injury, and I know how to recover. For us, it remains an ankle sprain and a crack in the fifth metatarsal.”

The AP is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, as a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members, it can maintain its single-minded focus on newsgathering and its commitment to the highest standards of objective, accurate journalism.